Multi-player games presently operate under the paradigm of a dedicated connection between the player's device and the network, and then the gaming application. This dedicated connection could be wired or wireless, and could also be physical or logical in its connection state. However, there is no delivery efficiency of the modified “game screen” in the forward path direction (network to end user), since each end user receives this information in a one-to-one fashion. Even a multicast on the wired Internet is really just a unique connection to each device. There are no economies of scale in the delivery of multi-player gaming information.
A terrestrial wireless network can deliver multi-media content to more than one end user or subscriber at the same time, thereby realizing high levels of network efficiency. The terrestrial wireless network delivery method is called broadcast, multicast, or narrowcast and has at least one end user (subscriber) and associated end user device receiving the broadcasted content, and thereby derives its high efficiency when more than one end user receives the same content in a simultaneous fashion. Key advantages of terrestrial wireless networks are high bandwidth and high capacity; and the wireless network is targeted in its delivery, both geographically and demographically. Yet this sharing of the forward path is not done in multi-player gaming. While the multicast process is well taught in the art, the delivered multi-media content, information, or data (collectively termed “content” or “multi-media content” herein) is static in nature and is simply a replica of the source content, less any transmission or coding errors. The wirelessly multicast source content is immutable and does not have end user interaction or feedback.
New wireless multi-media content delivery architectures, such as MediaFLO (“Media ForwardLinkOnly”) and DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld), function by using a broadcast architecture in the forward path to produce a pseudo-multicast delivery and concurrently disseminate multi-media content to a plurality of wireless end user devices on a single air interface channel. In these architectures (also termed “multicast” herein), a unidirectional multi-media wireless broadcast network transmits multi-media content to selected authorized wireless end user devices in a time concurrent fashion. However, there is no interconnection, interaction, or feedback between the end users and their associated end user devices with this multicasted multi-media content stream. The forward path content is completely and totally static in its nature. The delivered multi-media content is essentially no different than UHF or VHF broadcasted television, other than it can be received on small portable digital devices.
The MediaFLO and DVB-H multi-media wireless architectures, therefore, are static in their user interface, since there is no interactivity or feedback between delivered multi-media content and the end user. The multicasted content is invariant or immutable in its extent. That is, whatever is delivered to the wireless network for transmission to the end user population is delivered as an exact replica, untouched and unmodified from its original form. This is a distinct and inherent limitation of the present wireless multicasting art (even though the multicasting paradigm is efficient and targeted).
Thus, the state of the wireless multicasting art does not enable or permit end users, via their associated end user devices, to dynamically modify the multi-media content delivered on the forward path via aggregated feedback or input from at least one of a plurality of end users via their associated end user devices. No system heretofore has envisioned engaging the end user to directly and actively influence the delivered multicasted content.